Mayan Pyramid
Make this sweet craft and learn about the history and culture of the Ancient Mayans

Introduction
In the Maya & Miguel episode “Prince Tito,” Maya convinces Tito to audition for a community theater performance featuring a Mayan prince. Maya promises Tito that she’ll get the female lead and be next to with him onstage the whole time. But when the director casts Tito in the lead and Maya in a bit part, Tito is bound for stardom – but only if Maya can find a way to keep him from freezing up in front of the audience on opening night.

In this activity, your child will learn facts about Ancient Mayan culture. A pyramid will be built from sugar cubes. Listening skills and spoken English and Spanish or your own native language, will be used to recall facts and share understanding about Ancient Mayan culture with other language speakers and learners.

Materials:

• Ancient Mayan facts (listed below)
• map or globe for identifying Mexico’s Yucatán
• 1 box of sugar cubes
• glue

Directions: Share this brief story and fascinating facts about the Ancient Maya. Then make a Mayan pyramid out of sugar cubes!

The Mayan culture originated in Mexico’s Yucatán. This intelligent culture developed astronomy, calendar systems and writing. They built pyramids and observatories, all without metal tool, and were also skilled at weaving and making pottery. Around 900 A.D., their population declined and they eventually became a lost civilization. To this day, it’s still a mystery what really happened to the Mayans.

The Mayans were…

• one of only two cultures to build cities in the rainforest
• famous for their knowledge of the stars
• may have chewed the extract (called chicle) from the chicozapote tree to clean their teeth
• tattooed, painted and pierced their bodies
• raised bees without stingers
• built pyramids like the Egyptians
• made instruments from animal bones and clay
• made chocolate drinks from the seed of the cacao tree called “The Drink of the Gods”
• had foods such as corn, maize, cornmeal, black beans, turkey and rabbit
• tied boards to each newborn’s head to create a more desired sloped forehead
• wore jewelry made of gold and precious jewels (mostly jade)
• filed teeth into sharp points and placed jade in the holes
• considered slightly crossed-eyes much more beautiful than straight, normal eyes
• men wore loincloths and women wore loose dresses, while priests and nobles wore finer materials with shells and beads, along with fantastic head-dresses

Make like an Ancient Mayan and build a pyramid. Begin by cutting out a 4x4 inch square piece of poster board. Using sugar cubes, fill the square with tight rows of with glued cubes. Move one row “up and in” and continue placing and gluing the cubes in solid rows until the pyramid is built to a point.

Talk About It: Help your child to find Mexico’s Yucatán area on a map or globe. Ask your child to recall some of the fascinating facts about Ancient Mayan culture and tell why this group of people is known as the “lost civilization.”

Take It Further: In the Maya & Miguel episode, “Prince Tito,” Tito needed some help building his self-confidence. Build your child’s self-confidence by enjoying these activities together:

• visit a petting zoo or farm
• go fishing
• hunt for hidden treasures with a metal detector
• climb a tree
• go hiking or camping
• collect bugs, catch butterflies and dig for worms
• cook something without using a recipe

With a Group: Make a bilingual documentary! This activity uses the native language skills of all learners and makes a great keepsake for parents and caregivers. Help your group make a bilingual documentary about Ancient Mayan culture by having fluent English speakers recite facts on camera. Then have English language learners repeat each fact in Spanish, or their own native language.